


Breaths and Heart Beats

by StarlightPhoenix



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, F/M, Fix-It, Resurrection, Yes that means reversing that one death, also i tagged major character death but he does come back, ft. a supernatural being, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-03
Updated: 2019-05-03
Packaged: 2020-02-16 10:08:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18689344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarlightPhoenix/pseuds/StarlightPhoenix
Summary: Warning: Contains Avengers: Endgame Spoilers. Read at your own risk“You can rest now.”Yes. Yes, that’s what he wanted. The world was saved but everything hurt and he just wanted to close his eyes. With Pepper’s permission, he finally got his rest. Some screamed, others cried, but Tony couldn’t hear them anymore.He took his last breath, felt his last heart beat, and closed his eyes.And then he opened his eyes.





	Breaths and Heart Beats

“I… am… Iron Man.”

He snapped his fingers.

Tony knew the sensation of lightning coursing through him. That had hurt, but it was nothing compared to the cosmic force of the Stones. Every cell, every _atom,_ was charged up, and the power of the Stones threatened to rip him apart.

For a moment, nothing happened. Everything was still, was silent. A breeze cut through the air. The minions turned to dust first, disappearing while they were still walking, probably never realizing what had happened. Others dusted slowly, horror on their faces, stumbling in a desperate attempt to avoid their fate.

Thanos gazed at his defeat, as lost as the others. Tony watched him sit down, watched him turn to dust with the rest of them.

And then the pain in his body caught up with the rest of his mind.

He stumbled to the side, tried to get to something, anything, but his legs didn’t work on logic anymore. No, they were ruled by the pain and couldn’t move past the debris, collapsing from under him. On instinct, he used his hands to cushion his fall, having no energy to wince when his nerves screamed. Every cell in his body was screaming, crescendoing in his mind. Every breath, every beat of his heart made the screaming louder, and he knew. He _knew_ he didn’t have a lot of breaths or heart beats left.

The lights burned at his eyes, but he opened them when a familiar voice cried out.

“Tony...”

Rhodey. His best friend since college.

He watched as Rhodey touched his face, as his eyes watered and he realized what Tony already knew.

“Mr. Stark!”

Peter pushed past the others, Rhodey moving back. The kid was still hopeful, eyes bright.

“Mr. Stark, we won!”

Yeah. They did win. After five years, they finally won.

Tony’s arms ached, wanting to pull the kid in for a hug and never let go. But he couldn’t. The thought of even lifting his arms exhausted him, let alone giving a hug. It was a miracle that he hadn’t run out of breaths and heart beats yet.

“Mr. Stark...”

Peter moved even closer, hands closing around his arms.

“Tony...”

So it takes actually dying for the kid to call him that. Huh.

Peter’s hands tightened, and the screaming in Tony’s mind spiked. Rhodey must have saw something, pulling the kid away, but Peter was always stubborn.

“Tony… you can’t go...”

He didn’t really have a choice, did he.

“Tony...”

A new voice. Pepper.

Unlike Rhodey, Pepper’s touch was gentler. She smiled at him, even as her eyes watered.

For a second, the pain dulled.

“Pep,” he breathed out.

Her hand moved to his chest, his arch reactor, and Tony ignored the pain and screams, bringing his hand to hers.

“You can rest now.”

Yes. Yes, that’s what he wanted. The world was saved but everything hurt and he just wanted to close his eyes. With Pepper’s permission, he finally got his rest. Some screamed, others cried, but Tony couldn’t hear them anymore.

He took his last breath, felt his last heart beat, and closed his eyes.

 

 

And then he opened his eyes.

Tony was standing, which was weird since he didn’t remember getting up in the first place. He also wasn’t wearing shoes.

He was never religious, but he never spared a thought about what happens when you die. Apparently, the Bible was right. You go to a garden.

It was just him, the grass, and the flowers. He spun in a circle, looking for a path that told him where to go, but there was nothing. Everything was just green. There weren’t even indents in the grass from footprints.

Okay. Cool. Fine.

Was he even supposed to go anywhere? Was this his designated patch of garden that he wasn’t supposed to leave? Should he have read the Bible as a kid?

Well, he was dead anyways. What would happen if he went somewhere he shouldn’t? He couldn’t die a second time. Maybe.

His first steps were slow, waiting to see if a loud voice would yell at him. But no. It really was just him. His next steps came with the realization that nothing hurt anymore. He could walk without pain. Which, _thank God._ He couldn’t imagine spending the rest of eternity suffering.

So he walked. And walked. And walked.

He couldn't see the patch of grass he appeared on anymore, but the Sun stayed in the center of the sky. So there was no time in the afterlife. Cool.

After what felt like hours–not that he would know–there was a dot on the horizon that wasn’t just grass and flowers.

Should he… Well. He was dead anyways.

It was a sliver of doubt that made him power walk instead of sprint to the… thing. Table. It was a picnic table. And a person.

Facing his direction, a person sat at the table. Despite the warm spring weather, the person decided to wear a black robe. Which wasn't ominous at all.

His doubt spiked, but he was already halfway there and the person already saw him. But that didn’t mean Tony wouldn’t slow down his pace just in case.

The ominously dressed figure stood when he got close.

“Anthony Stark.”

So the person knew his name. Alright.

“That’s me,” he grinned. “Got a name for yourself?”

And maybe a gender? Ominous black figure’s body was hidden under the robes and a hood covered everything but their mouth.

“I am many things, none of which you will ever understand.”

Right.

“So… Can you tell me where I am?”

The figure smiled. And while Tony expected their skin to be pale white, it wasn’t. It was dark, glowing in the Sun, highlighting the white of their teeth.

“It doesn’t matter. You won’t be here long.”

Oh God. He broke the no-leaving-your-part-of-the-garden rule.

The figure moved closer, and Tony could count the individual teeth. If he really wanted, he could flip off the black hood and see the rest of their face, but some things are meant to be secret.

“You are a savior, Anthony Stark.”

What?

“What?”

A surprisingly-flesh hand touched his shoulder.

“Those who seek the Stones do so for destruction. Thanos used the Stones to bring death to the universe. You used the Stones to save the universe, knowing it would kill you. The universe sees this, and they have mercy.”

“Mercy? I’m dead, Black Sabbath.”

As soon as the words left him, Tony wondered if the nickname was too much.

But the figure kept that smile. “Yes. For now. The universe asks you a question. Do you want to go back?”

Go back? To Pepper and Morgan and Peter? Yes. _Yes._ To his cabin in the woods, reading Morgan bedtime stories and cooking breakfast because Pepper doesn’t trust him with real food. To repairing the Iron Spider suit with Peter and helping the kid with his homework even though he really doesn’t need the help. To…

To Stark Industries and Iron Man and heroics that’ll just lead to his premature death again. To Pepper and Peter crying over his dead body again. To Morgan losing her dad again.

“I...” Tony couldn’t finish. Did he want to go back? Was he selfishly hoping that he could stay in this weird garden forever? Didn’t he have permission from Pepper to rest?

“Not everyone gets a second chance, Anthony.”

When he was a teenager and his mom died, all he ever wanted was to get her back. And Morgan… She wasn’t even old enough to know what death _is._ All she knows is that he left and isn’t coming back. _But he could go back._

“Yes. I want to go back.” _To my family._

The figure moved closer and cupped his face. If the person could breathe, Tony would be feeling it. He already had a joke about the breath mint in mind.

“Good. Enjoy life, Anthony Stark, and know the universe is smiling down on you.”

“Thank you.”

The figure moved their hands, thumbs gently closing his eyes. For a moment, nothing happened. He stood in that garden, eyes closed, feeling the grass between his toes and the spring Sun on his skin.

And then the screaming came back.

He was on his back, and the weight of himself pressing on his skin, on his nerves, restarted the pain. His mind balked, trying to cope with the sudden onslaught of nerve firings and failing spectacularly.

This time, the screaming in his head made it to his throat. He took a breath and his exhale carried a groan. Not quite a scream, but still holding the pain he felt everywhere else.

There were some _‘Oh my God’_ s and footsteps. Lot of footsteps.

He managed to push himself up, blinking in the light at…

A funeral. Everyone was wearing black and staring at him rise in a literal coffin.

Pepper made it to him first, reaching out to poke him with her fingertips. When they actually touched his arms, she went in for a hug and refused to loosen her grip when he gasped.

“Uh, hi Pep. Can you maybe let go? Just for a minute? Actually, can you help me out of this thing?”

The others moved forward, and it was Steve who lifted him out of the coffin and set him on the steps of the altar.

“Uh. Tony?”

“Yes, honeybear?”

“You were dead.”

“Yeah, funny story. I _was_ dead but–”

But? He snapped his fingers and Thanos died and then he died and…

And then something happened.

And then he was alive again.

He died, and then something happened, and then he was alive again.

“Tony?”

He raised his eyes to meet Pepper’s.

“But I’m not,” he finished.

He knew the others weren’t satisfied. It sounded like he was hiding a secret. He made it sound like he was going to give an epic tale, and then he didn’t. But he couldn’t _remember._ He died, and then something happened, and then he came back to life during his funeral like he was Jesus.

“Daddy?”

He spun around, looking for the voice, ignoring the spike of pain.

Morgan, in her black dress, stared at him. “Are you back?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m back.” He ignored every spark of pain, pulling her close and kissing her hair. “I’m back and I won’t be leaving for a while. Who’s gonna get you juice pops before bed, after all? Not your mom.”

Pepper covered her sob with a laugh. “You give her juice pops before bed?”

“Someone has to,” he defended.

That bit of normalcy triggered everyone else. Peter fell into his arms, crying and trying to speak at the same time. Cap and the other Avengers moved closer, all wanting to touch him and make sure he was real. Tony wanted to scream with every poke, remind them that he was still in pain, but he understood. They needed to make sure he was really back. Harley stood in the back, but Tony could see the same wetness in his eyes that was everywhere in the room.

He looked at everyone, at all the black and smiling faces, and wondered why someone was wearing a hood at his funeral. But when he looked again, the hooded person was gone. Probably went outside to get out of the crowd.

Tony pulled his thoughts back to his family. Not everyone was related to him by blood, but they were family.

He was given a second chance, and he wasn’t going to waste it.

**Author's Note:**

> Because my boy Tony needed a happy ending too. 
> 
> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos are always nice <3


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